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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26367736">once more, warmly</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloryordust/pseuds/gloryordust'>gloryordust</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>High School, Love Confessions, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:55:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,314</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26367736</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloryordust/pseuds/gloryordust</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>Ren waits for the punchline, because <i>all</i> jokes have one—and this has to be a joke, doesn't it? There’s no way that Abe could possibly—</p>
</blockquote>Abe kisses him out of the blue. Mihashi tries to process it.
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Abe Takaya/Mihashi Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>111</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>once more, warmly</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>unbeta'd for now, but i'll look over it later...!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Abe kisses him on a bitingly cold Tuesday morning. </p><p>It’s a good kiss, Ren thinks—not that he knows what kisses are supposed to be like. But it’s straightforward and brusque, with an underlying tenderness that turns Ren’s legs to jelly. The sensation of Abe’s mouth moving against his is careful, gentle, filling Ren with a warmth he typically associates with the press of Abe’s palm. </p><p>The kiss is a lot like Abe himself, actually, distilled into one brief peck on the lips, and Ren allows himself a small, private smile at the thought.</p><p>Reality sets in a moment later. As the blood rushes to his face, Ren’s eyes dart around nervously, looking at anything and everything but Abe. </p><p>Ren waits for the punchline, because <em>all</em> jokes have one—and this has to be a joke, doesn't it? There’s no way that Abe could possibly—</p><p>But instead of delivering the final blow or bursting into laughter, Abe turns a deep, unflattering shade of red and jerks away from Ren like he’s been burned. “You—“ he says, then, “Oh,” then, “<em>Mihashi</em>—“ Abe doesn’t usually scramble for words the way Ren has to; seeing him flounder makes him blink once, twice, three times in rapid succession, trying to make sense of it. </p><p>Giving up, Abe buries his face in his scarf and mumbles something too quiet to hear, Ren wants to ask, but all he manages is, “Ah—um—A—Abe-kun…?”</p><p>“We’re going to be late for class,” Abe says suddenly, taking a few stiff steps forward, then glances over his shoulder and sighs when he sees Ren rooted in place. Backtracking to grab Ren’s hand, Abe tugs him forward, and even through their gloves he feels like he can sense Abe’s pulse, stuttering before steadying into a familiar rhythm. </p><p>When Abe isn't looking, Ren touches his fingers to his lips. The warmth of Abe’s mouth lingers on his. </p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Half a day later, Ren is still waiting for the other shoe to drop. </p><p>Abe hasn’t said anything, and so Ren doesn’t either. Not that he could, not that he knows <em>how</em>. He considers asking Tajima for advice, but the thought of saying it out loud (<em>Abe-kun kissed me!</em>) causes Ren to short-circuit. Tajima knows there’s <em>something</em> anyway, and his eyes bore a hole in the side of Ren’s head all throughout their morning lessons, silently imploring him to spill. </p><p>He doesn’t want to tell anyone until he knows for sure—he wants Abe to tell him why first. If it’s a joke, if Abe didn’t mean to, he’ll—he’ll swallow disappointment and move on, because Abe is still his catcher and maybe his friend and that’s all Ren can really ask of him. But if isn’t a joke—</p><p>Ren is still scared to ask, to know. He squeezes his eyes shut and slinks down in his seat as questions swim in his head. <em>Do you regret it? Do you regret me? Do you want to? Do you want to again—?</em></p><p>He thinks of Abe and his red face and his warm hands and his lovely mouth and begs, <em>please please please, don’t—don’t let it be a joke. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Mihashi. Want to go home together?”</p><p>Abe doesn’t usually walk home with him unless it’s important. Ren stiffens and grips the strap of his bag with both hands, nodding. He wonders if Abe will want to finally talk about what happened, wonders if it qualifies as something <em>important</em>. </p><p>But Abe remains silent as they begin walking. The only sound between them is of snow crunching under their feet, until—“I’m sorry,” Abe says finally. </p><p>“S—sorry?” </p><p>“About what happened earlier today, when I kissed you out of the blue like that.” Abe chooses his words carefully, speaking slowly and deliberately. “I shouldn’t have, so… yeah. I’m sorry for not thinking it through.”</p><p>Abe is sorry. Abe shouldn’t have. Ren feels tears prick at the corners of his eyes and thinks that maybe, <em>maybe</em>, this is even worse than a joke. “Regret…” he says, the lump in his throat threatening to choke him. “D—do you…”</p><p>Abe purses his lips together. “I guess,” he says, looking down at his feet. “I regret doing it like that.”</p><p>Regret… <em>regret</em>… The word repeats itself in Ren’s head, growing louder with each passing moment. He doesn’t want to be a <em>regret</em> for Abe. What else does Abe regret? Becoming Ren’s friend? Becoming Ren’s catcher? Maybe he hates him now, maybe Ren did something wrong, maybe that’s why he’ll never feel Abe’s mouth against his ever again—</p><p>“Oi, Mihashi!” He doesn’t notice he’s started to shake until Abe grabs his shoulders and holds him in place. “I don’t—I don’t regret kissing you. Just, the moment was kinda half-assed, you know?” </p><p>Ren‘s brain rattles in his skull. “Half… half…”</p><p>“I thought you looked, uh, really nice this morning.” Abe’s face reddens as he fumbles for an explanation. “And I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time, so I just did it. But I really wanted it to be special.” He takes a deep, steadying breath and meets Ren’s eyes. “I like you, Mihashi.”</p><p>Abe… likes him? Abe likes him. <em>Abe likes him</em>. Something unfurls in the pit of his stomach, something that feels suspiciously like hope. His fingers curl and uncurl, heartbeat quickening as Abe’s face looms above his. Their breaths come out in little white puffs, mingling together as Abe waits patiently for him to speak, looking completely calm for once. </p><p>Ren wants to say it back. He’s known what this feeling in his chest is for a long, long time. He knows that he wants Abe to not only be his first kiss but his last as well—but it doesn’t work like that. He <em>knows</em> it doesn’t. He knows, and yet he wants it anyway. The desire burns in his chest, a deep-rooted longing.</p><p>In the same way he doesn’t want to give up the mound, he doesn’t want to give up Abe. In the same way, he wants Abe to kiss him again. </p><p>“Me—me too!” Ren says after a drawn-out pause, a flush creeping over his cheeks. “I like Abe-kun too.” He doesn’t trip over the most important part, and he’s proud of himself for that.</p><p>The corners of Abe’s eyes crinkle into a smile. “You do?” he asks somewhat incredulously, as if he anticipated rejection, as if Ren could ever be anything but wholly in love with Abe. </p><p>“Yes!” Ren nods emphatically, and Abe’s hands move from his shoulders to cup his face gently, like he’s holding something fragile and infinitely precious between his palms. “A—again,” Ren says, leaning into his touch. “We… we could. Kiss. Again.” He inhales sharply. “I want to.” </p><p>Abe starts, blinks, then breaks out into laughter—not the mocking kind Ren used to fear, but open and bright and so, so warm. It knocks the air right out of Ren’s lungs. “Abe-kun!” he says loudly, struggling to catch his breath.</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“Can I… right now…?” Simply asking is terrifying, but it’s the good kind of fear, the kind that always pushes Ren to try harder and do better. “Y—you look nice.” The tip of his nose is the same shade of red as his cheeks, and his hair is ruffled, soft, and Ren wants to run his hand through it later, but right now—right now his gaze drops to Abe’s lips, his pulse racing in anticipation. </p><p>“Oh.” Abe swallows and licks his lips. “Yeah,” he says gruffly, drawing Ren closer. “<em>Yeah</em>.” </p><p>Ren kisses Abe on a still-cold Tuesday afternoon, and a second time, and a third time, and a fourth as the afternoon bleeds into the evening.</p><p>(Maybe the punchline is this: even though it's clumsy, even though it's scary, even though he worries that Abe suddenly won't want to kiss him back, Ren never wants to stop.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i've been binge-watching oofuri over the past couple of days and i think mihashi is the <i>cutest</i> baseball-loving boy to ever exist. this is not... canon-compliant or anything other than self-indulgent; i just really felt like doing something cute for them!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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